If you have any questions or are looking for more information, please contact lybarger@ohio.edu.
About Classics & Religious Studies
About Classics & Religious Studies
The Department of Classics & Religious Studies (CARS) at ÃÛèÖÊÓƵ offers dynamic undergraduate programs in Classical Languages (Greek and Latin), Classical Civilization/Archaeology and World Religions. As an undergraduate student in a CARS major or minor, you'll have access to award-winning faculty, research and study abroad opportunities, active student clubs, and strong alumni support.
Why Major in Classics or Religious Studies?
Classics and Religious Studies courses explore fascinating foreign cultures and tackle big questions about human existence — such as what it means to be human across different times and places, how religious beliefs influence societies, what factors contribute to differences that characterize different cultures, and how different people interact within a culture (and why). These questions are central to all three major tracks: Classical Languages, Classical Civilization, and World Religions.
The more complex answer is that studying classics and world religion involves analyzing human beliefs, emotions and interactions. How do we do this objectively? We examine what people wrote, the cities in which they lived, their objects of daily life and even what is written on their tombstones. Because we may only have fragments of surviving evidence, the challenge (and fun) part is figuring out how to put a partial puzzle together to create an overall understanding of the culture.
This process not only sharpens analytical and research skills but also fosters empathy and deeper understanding of diverse worldviews. By studying how people have responded to life’s challenges across history and cultures, students develop flexible thinking and a broadened perspective — qualities that prepare them for success in a wide range of careers.
Explore our research areas and learn why we study various CARS-related topics. Click on any of the research areas listed to learn more.
Career Opportunities
As in other humanities disciplines, the options for our majors are broad and limited only by their own imaginations. Our major tracks are not intended to prepare students for particular jobs but to impart the mental agility to tackle any job. CARS majors have gone on to work as lawyers, doctors, Latin teachers, field archaeologists, grant writers, business owners, authors, professors, and ministers.
Benefits and Prospects of Humanities Majors
If you would like to read more about the benefits and prospects of humanities majors, here are a few articles:
- Forbes: ""
- The Atlantic: ""
- YouTube interview:
History of Classics & Religious Studies
In 2003 the Classics Department became the Department of Classics & World Religions. The union of Classics with World Religions is based, in part, on a broadening of the conception of what classical civilizations are.
Classicists continue to teach and research the civilization of the ancient Mediterranean with an emphasis on the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome. Study of the religious traditions of the ancient Mediterranean, including ancient Judaism and early Christianity, has always been part of the Classics curriculum.
Now the department also includes the study of cultures that embrace Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam outside of the Mediterranean basin.
The approach in each case includes three basic components: the study of language, arts, and material culture. The department's fundamental mission is to provide undergraduates the opportunity to study cultures and religions from a neutral, academic perspective, and thereby to explore basic humanistic issues.
Meet the Department Chair
Welcome to CARS! We have some great academic programs that develop skills and sharpen thinking with challenging texts. I would point especially to our innovative Difficult Dialogs classes and study abroad opportunities. We offer several majors and minors, including Religious Studies, Classical Civilization, Greek and Latin. We also have an Honors Tutorial College major in Classics and Religious Studies. You can complement your program with us, as well, by signing up for an interdisciplinary certificate in Islamic Studies or Jewish Studies or both! Our academic tracks offer the flexibility for students to study broadly or to focus on areas of special interest such as archaeology, ancient history and literature, religions, or languages. Explore our offerings and make your course of study your own!
Learn, too, about our award-winning faculty. All of us in CARS have extensive expertise in our fields. We have published multiple referred articles in top-rated journals. Since 2017, we have accounted for 16 single- or co-authored books among us. Find out more about us at our individual faculty profiled pages.
Above all, as CARS faculty, we remain intensely dedicated to the success of our students. We are a strictly undergraduate department and for that reason can give our undivided attention to our bachelor's-level students. Our expertise as faculty allows us to create engaging, content-rich courses and to guide undergraduate student research projects, whether as term papers in our courses or honors theses in the senior year. As a small department, we have the ability to get to know our students well, to create a welcoming community in which to learn, and to match them with exciting fellowships or other opportunities to develop their careers. No one is anonymous in CARS!
We have a 100 percent retention rate, which means that our students love being in our department! Our very active CARS Student Club provides a welcoming and supportive community. CARS students regularly gather in our department’s student learning center—which doubles as our department library. They organize frequent trips to sites like the in Columbus, the ISKON Retreat Center in West Virginia, and to student conferences in the classical and religious studies fields. Generous alumni giving allows us to support these activities. It also allows us to provide substantial departmental scholarships that reward academic excellence and help fund study abroad experiences connected to our CARS programs.
If you have any questions, please contact me at lybarger@ohio.edu. I would love the chance to speak with you personally about our department and the opportunities you will have if you join our community inquiry and exploration. I hope to hear from you!
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Questions?